SimCity #4 the first console game in the SimCity series

Introduction

SimCity (SNES) was the first console game in the SimCity series, and one of the launch titles for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America. It was developed by Nintendo EAD under license from Maxis and published by Nintendo in 1991.

Start with a fledgling town (you name it yourself) and build it into a metropolis. Or, take on the challenge of rescuing a city overwhelmed with problems. Either way, taxes, zoning, crime, transportation, education, fire control, and other critical issues are in your hands. Time is passing, and every decision you make has a future consequence. Your assistant, Dr. Wright, can help you make the right decisions. Just ask!

Surprise catastrophies also threaten your growing city — fire, earthquakes, airplane crashes, even a giant Koopa who has a nose for industrial pollution! Will you build the ideal city? Or will disgruntled citizens leave you with a ghost town?

Tricks

The Million Dollar Code

It is a little tricky, but well worth it, especially if you want to get your city started quickly. Follow these steps very carefully. If you do not get it exactly right, you will need to let another "game year" pass by before you can try again.

1. Make sure you have some PD's, FD's and transportation expenses on the budget.
2. Spend all your money and wait until December.
3. When the tax screen comes up (automatically, as it does every December) press and HOLD the L Button. Move the pointer down to "Go With Figures" and press B to exit the tax screen.
4. Immediately go back to the tax screen again.
5. Raise your police, fire and transportation funding levels to 100%. Again, move to "Go With Figures" and press B to exit the tax screen.
6. Get rid of the submenu.
7. Now that you are back tothe regular city screen, let go of the L Button. You should have $999,999.
8. Repeat whenever necessary.

Time to Make the Donuts

My favorite way to increase zoning (and population) was always to build what one of the strategy guides referred to as "Donut Blocks." A 3x3 block of zones, surrounded by train tracks. Just like a donut, you are building a ring of zones, and leaving the middle empty (for now). Make sure you "pair up" the residential and commercial blocks, because 2 adjoining R or C zones can eventually join together as a "TOP" zone, which is the best you can get. you will need many of these if you ever want to reach "megalopolis" status with 500,000 people. Once you have your blocks zoned out, the middle area offers a convenient place for items that do not need to be right next to transportation. Things like police stations, fire stations, parks and "gift" buildings. The game does not care whether people can actually access these properties.

What about industrial zones?

Because they cause pollution, you do not really want them that close to your R and C zones. I do not include them in donut blocks. Rather, I try to scatter Industrial zones in areas along the edges of my landform - so that way, half the pollution (and crime) actually goes off the map, where it does not get counted.

Zoning Plan "B"

Build "columns" of zones, that are 2 zones wide. (The columns are only 3 zones tall for the illustration at left... but you can build them as long as you want. This also allows for "TOP" buildings to form. It uses space more efficiently to earn populations exceeding 550,000. Make sure your waterfront areas are reserved for C zones - they seem to do better than other zone types along the water. Industrial zones are best placed near the edges of your landform.

Using Landfills Effectively

The game keeps track of how much open, untouched land is left. As you get close to running out, you will get a few chances to build 3x3 landfills in any body of water. I would suggest putting these together, so that you can put 2 R or C zones next to each other. Waterfront property always gets a high value, so the land value of being IN the water almost guarantees the two zones will form a TOP.

Still Need More Room?

SimCity SNES does not allow you to choose how large and small your airports or seaports are. But, there is a trick to downsize them and the game will not care. As a plane is flying over an airport, seaport or stadium, go to the disasters menu and choose Plane Crash. Usually, the crash will take out a few random tiles. As long as just one section of the facility survives, the game still thinks the entirebuilding is there, so your city will still receive the full benefit of that building. Just make sure there is a fire department nearby so the fire does not spread.

Landlocked Seaports

SimCity's simulation engine is not smart enough to "know" whether your seaport is actually next to water. It only wantsayes or no answer to the question,"does a seaport exist in this city?" As long as you have a seaport anywhere on the map, the game is happy. do not waste valuable waterfront property on a seaport. Instead, build it off to the corner of the map, or at least on an edge. That way, half of the crime and pollution generated by the seaport will go off the edge of the map - where it will not have any effect on your city. (The same applies for ANY item that creates pollution. including coal power plants, industrial zones and airports. Save the corners for the "biggies" - coal power, airports and seaports. These generate the most pollution, so putting them on the corner reduces the effect by more than just putting them along an edge.)

Pollution

You can never completely get rid of pollution, so do your best to minimize it with these strategies.

• ALWAYS use nuclear power plants. They cost more than coal, but they do not pollute.
• ALWAYS use rails instead of roads. Again, they cost more, but they do not pollute. Using rails will also eliminate another problem: traffic. Best of all, SimCity does not require train depots (like the sequels do) so you literally can run train tracks anywhere you'd normally build roads.
• You cannot get rid of Industrial Zones (since they bring jobs to your city) but you can try to spread them out. Leave a few tiles of breathing room between them, and fill those empty spaces with parks. Also try to provide a buffer zone (at least 3-4 tiles wide) between your I zones and your R and C zones. Keep that pollution away from areas where people live.
• Airports and seaports also cause pollution. Again, avoid placing them right next to each other or next to I zones.
• Whenever possible, place I zones, airports and seaports along the edges of your city. That way, half of the pollution goes off the map - and it will not count. (You could maximize this by putting your airport and seaport in different corners of the map.) I usually build a ring of I-zones around the edge of the map, then fill the "inside" of the landform with R & C zones.

Thankfully, you do not have to worry about trash collection (or building dumps) like you do in SimCity 3000 and SimCity 4.

UnemploymentM

To combat unemployment, you must always have zones that provide jobs. Generally, you will have to rely heavily on Industrial Zones when you first begin. Watch the "RCI Meter" at the top of the screen, and keep an eye on which kinds of zones are in demand.

As you approach 100,000 population, you will probably start to see demand for Commercial Zones catching up with Industrial Zones, and eventually surpassing them. Again, keeping an eye on the RCI Meter will let you know what kinds of zones are in demand. As long as you can keep up with it, you should have enough places for your SimCitizens to find jobs.

Crime

This one is pretty straightforward. Remember to check the "crime map" often and compare it to the "Police Radius" coverage map. The Crime Map will help you find trouble spots, and the coverage radius map will help you determine exactly where to build new Police Stations so they have the greatest impact. it is OK for station coverage to overlap somewhat (in fact, you need some overlapping to adequately cover the city). But remember, each time you add another Police Station, you are also adding more expenses to your annual budget.

Traffic

This one is a no-brainer (and if you were paying attention to my remedies for "Pollution" you already know this answer). You cannot have traffic if you do not have roads. So do not build any roads. Instead, build railroad tracks.Yes, it will cost more, but if you are using the Million Dollar Code, that should not be a problem. And remember, unlike the sequels, you do NOT need train stations in SimCity. (In fact, you cannot even build any until you earn them as gifts. They are completely optional.)

Second Best Solution: If you are playing without cheats and money is an issue, OK, you can build roads. But keep them as simple and straight as possible. Roads that zig-zag, twist and turn will only add to your problems - both traffic and pollution. Building roads that meander everywhere (like in the Berlin scenario) is the worst thing you can do. (On that note, you can wipe out traffic problems in every single scenario city by bulldozing the roads and replacing them with rail.)

Taxes

If you are using the Million Dollar Code, this one's easy. Just reduce all the tax levels to zero. But if you are playingfair, stay around 7%. People will still complain.

Housing Costs

This is one problem I could NEVER eliminate. I almost wonder if it is just the "default" complaint so the list is never empty. The best you can do is keep your eye on the "RCI" meter to make sure you are meeting demand. If the people need more R zones, build more.

Pollution vs. Unemployment

As I mentioned at the beginning of this section, some problems can never be totally eliminated. If you want to get rid of unemployment, you need to build more industrial zones. which cause pollution. If you want to clean up the city, you need to eliminate industrial zones, and thus, jobs. it is especially tough when your population is under that 100,000 mark where commercial zones begin to take over. This is where you truly get to be a mayor and decide which problem you are more willing to live with. you will never get rid of both.

START UP POWER PLANT BUG

The biggest problem with the SuperNES version of SimCity happens when you try to load a saved game. For the first few "game months" after loading up, the simulation thinks your power plants are off. The stupid lightning symbol will flash over EVERY building in your city for awhile.

This obviously has a detrimental effect on many other aspects of your city. Even if you pause the game, you cannot stop this from happening. that is why, on the SuperNES, i would only sit down to play if I knew I had a good long time to get lots of stuff done. This bug makes it impossible to play for only 15 or 30 minutes at a time. Your city needs time to "recover" from this bug. If you start and stop often, the impacts of having several individual month-long power outages will only build upon each other and really screw up your city.

However, if you are playing on an emulator on your computer, you can finally avoid this defect. Just use your emulator's "save state" feature. Saving and loading states are the equivalent of leaving your SNES on and paused the entire time you were away. it is like freezing time! You can come back a day, a month or even years later, and the game will pick right back up, without missing a beat.

If you are playing on the Wii Virtual Console, this bug is still in the game, but Nintendo offered a workaround. When you exit the Virtual Console, it will save a "resume point" - very similar to saving a state on a PC-based emulator. When you come back, the Virtual Console will let you pick up from that resume point.

However, there is a catch. You can only save one resume point. If you are using both of SimCity's "save" files (to work on 2 different cities) you will still need to "save" one city, then "load" the other - which will trigger this awful bug. But as long as you are the only person using SimCity, and you are only working on one city. you can just use the resume point every time you come back. It will be just like you left your SNES on constantly and there will not be any startup bug.

As you reach certain milestones, Dr. Wright will appear to say you have earned a special gift. In this section, we have listed all those gifts, how to earn them, and where to place them. Many gifts can help improve a neighborhood, as long as you know which types of zones they "play well" with. Several gifts also generate income for your city budget.

Your House Requirement: 2000 Population Revenue/Expense: $0 Best Placement: Residential Police HQ (up to 3) Prerequisite: 6, 12, or 18 police stations Yearly Income: $0 Best Placement: Anywhere (provides 1½ times the coverage of a normal station) Fire HQ (up to 3) Prerequisite: 6, 12, or 18 fire stations Yearly Income: $0 Best Placement: Anywhere (provides 1½ times the coverage of a normal station) Train Station (up to 2) Prerequisite: 50km and 200km of track Yearly Income: $100 Best Placement: Commercial areas Windmill Prerequisite: 150 zones must become fully developed Yearly Income: $100 Best Placement: Anywhere Expo Prerequisite: Population 50,000 AND build an airport Yearly Income: $100 Best Placement: Industrial area Amusement Park OR Casino (up to 3) Note: Whenever you hit one of the milestones, you will get to pick one or the other. Casinos bring more money but they also cause crime. Prerequisite: 300, 400 or 500km of roads Yearly Income: Park $200 / Casino $300 Best Placement: Park in residential areas / Casino anywhere (with a police station nearby) Fountain Prerequisite: City age = 50 years Yearly Income: $100 Best Placement: Commercial area Landfills (up to 3... or 4?) Prerequisite: Open land dwindles to 150, 100, 50 or 30 acres (squares) Yearly Income: $0 Best Placement: Can only be placed on water Special "View" Mode Prerequisite: Population = 50,000 Yearly Income: $0 Best Placement: n/a City Park (up to 3) Prerequisite: Build 300, 600 or 900 acres (squares) of small parkland Yearly Income: $0 Best Placement: Commercial or residential areas Library (up to 3) Prerequisite: When 3, 6 and 9 schools are built. NOTE: Unlike newer versions of SimCity where you build schools, this version builds schools automatically. You cannot "make" this happen. Yearly Income: $100 Best Placement: Residential areas Bank (not desired!) Prerequisite: Appears to provide a loan when your cash falls below $2000 Yearly Income: $0 Best Placement: Anywhere Zoo (up to 2) Prerequisite: Build 1 or 3 stadiums Yearly Income: $100 Best Placement: Residential or commercial Mario Statue Prerequisite: Population = 500,000 Yearly Income: $0 Best Placement: Anywhere i am working on getting screen shots of all the gifts - but my "real job" and other activities do not leave a lot of time left over for playing SimCity. So if you have good-quality screen shots of any gifts that we do not already have pictured, feel free to send them in. These two scenarios will only appear after you've successfully completed the first six. Go to the far right side of the scenario screen and move over one more space to get to them. Las Vegas This is the mother of all scenarios! For some reason, Sim Las Vegas is a popular target for UFO attacks. And after playing the 6 regular scenarios, it should be no surprise:UFO attacks result in fires. But this time, there is a new twist that you will quickly learn to hate. Unlike the Bowser attack in Tokyo or the earthquake in San Francisco... the UFO attack is NOT a one-time event. The aliens come back and attack your city multiple times. Just as you are done cleaning up after one attack, another wave arrives to deal more damage. On the bright side, you DO have some time to bulk up your lines of defense before the first attack. Just as you did in San Francisco, pause the game as soon as you begin. Check your fire coverage map and build new fire stations as needed. Then, all you can do is unpause and wait. Once the UFOs arrive, they will hit a few different places. After the aliensleave, pause again, and bulldoze around the fires so they cannot spread. Unpause the game so the fires can go out, then rebuild any power lines or zones that were lost in the attack. Then, just wait for the next UFO attack and repeat your cleanup routine. Vegas has some pretty simple problems you can tacklein between attacks, or near the end after the last attack. First of all, you will notice the city has tons of casinos, just like in real life. Casinos generate crime, so you need to build more police stations.Compare thecrime map and the police coverage map to determine where new stations should be placed. Second, there are tons of roads that go out to the middle of nowhere. They do not generate traffic or pollution, but they do drain from your annual transportation budget... so bulldoze these roads as soon as you get a free moment. (You could even do this when you first pause the game to build new fire stations if you want.) Even within the city's center, you can ALWAYS improve conditions by replacing roads with rails. You can also rearrange the zoning so the rail lines are straighter and more efficient, rather than zig-zagging all over the place. Even though the real-life Vegas would be strange with fewer casinos, the SimCity version does not care if you knock down a few for the sake of cutting down on traffic and pollution. Freeland "If only I did not have that river, I could have built the 6 more zones I needed to hit 500,000 people." Freeland is your chance to test out that theory. Freeland is100% land; there is NO water "getting in the way" of your plans for a perfect city. And there is no problems to solve or deadlines to meet. Just like a regular city, you begin in 1900 and control Freeland for as long as you want. But there is one catch. You may have noticed you never earn gifts when you are playing scenarios, even if you continue playing after you've beaten a particular scenario. We're not sure why, but that is just the way it is. And since Freeland is technically a scenario... no gifts there, either. No "Your House," no Police HQ's, no amusement parks, no train stations... not even the coveted Mario Statue for getting 500,000 population! If that is not a big deal to you, then enjoy Freeland. But if it is the Mario Statue you are after, do not waste your time here - just go back to regular mode. For your best chances of success, choose one of the landforms with the most land and the least water. One more tip to remember for Freeland - as with any city, your SimCitizens will eventually start asking for a Seaport. But there is nowater in Freeland! do not worry –if you already read Section 4 of this guide, you remember that Seaports do not need to be near water. The game does not care where the Seaport is - it only cares whether one exists. Build it anywhere. As I suggested in Section 5, place the Seaport in one of the corners,so most of the pollution goes off the edge of the map.